Goodnight, Gracie

It was a year a go on Thanksgiving that we had to put my Gracie girl to sleep.

I had just come up to my parents' house after working the late shift at Burger King when my parents told me that something was wrong with Gracie. She couldn't move her back legs; she just dragged them behind her. I checked for nerve response by pinching the skin between her toes and she didn't even look. She was happy to see me, though. She was always happy to see me. My parents said that they would make her a veterinary appointment as soon as possible the day after Thanksgiving.

I had only been asleep a few hours, when my father woke me up. "We can't wait. She needs a vet. We thought you might want to go."

I got up and anxiously helped my dad carry Gracie out to the car, wrapped in a blanket. We went to an emergency vet clinic, where they sent out a stretcher to cart my Rottie into the building.

We were ushered into an exam room. I watched as a woman about my age came in with her parents, all dressed up for the holiday. The woman carried a blanket that held her precious pet. They were sent to the exam room a little down the hall from ours. A few moments later, they reemerged, this time the woman weeping over the blanket as her parents tried to console her.

They brought Gracie into our exam room on a stretcher. The vet came in and told us we had a few options. She said they could do surgery, they could do a CAT scan, or they could put her to sleep. She mentioned that givne the age of Gracie (she was 10) and the severity of her condition, that we might only be determining the exact cause for putting her to sleep. I didn't want her to suffer any more, so I asked for them to put her to sleep. They asked if I wanted to be with her in her final moments. I said absolutely.

They wheeled her out and brought her back in with an IV in her front paw. The doctor gave us a few moments to say goodbye. I hugged her and told her what a good girl she was and how much I was going to miss her. The docotr administered the syringe full of medication to stop her heart and in a few moments, my Gracie girl was gone. I bawled, but I also remembered what a great dog she was and we reminisced about Gracie during Thanksgiving dinner.

God, I still miss her!